Prevention and Mitigation Strategies - Toronto City Schools

Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan
                                                     ARP ~ESSER

District Name:      Toronto City School District

District Address:   1307 Dennis Way, Toronto, OH 43964

District Contact:   Maureen Taggart

District IRN:       044917

                         Prevention and Mitigation Strategies
How will ARP ESSER funds be used to implement prevention and mitigation strategies that are, to the greatest extent
practicable, consistent with the most recent CDC guidance on reopening schools, in order to continuously and safely open
and operate schools for in-person learning?
The Toronto City School District will implement prevention and mitigation strategies to stop the spread of the COVID-19 virus
in the schools.

Masking: All persons entering the school campus including employees and students in grades K-12 are required to wear a
mask or other approved face covering. All bus drivers and riders are required to wear a mask when riding Toronto City School
District buses.

Physical Distancing: The district will strive to maintain three feet social distancing in classrooms. Floor decals and other
signage will be purchased and installed to remind students of appropriate social distancing. Staggered scheduling and cohorts
will continue to be implemented in order to reduce contact. Whenever possible, doors will be designated for entrance or exit
to separate traffic going into and out of the schools. Classroom layouts will designed to maximize physical space. Unnecessary
furniture will be removed and student desks will face in the same direction. Lunchroom seating may be expanded to other
areas if needed in order to ensure social distance while students eat.

Handwashing and Respiratory Etiquette: Students and staff will be encouraged to wash and sanitize their hands frequently.
Additional hand sanitizing stations will be installed throughout the school facilities to increase access. Hand sanitizer will be
provided for every classroom and bus. Masks will be available for all students and staff but not required. The district will
promote a “Cover Your Cough” campaign. Students will be taught to cough or sneeze into their elbow or cover their mouth
and nose with a tissue. They will also be instructed to put their used tissues into the trash, wash their hands with soap and
water, or clean them with an alcohol-based hand sanitizer. Sick students or staff will stay in an isolate area while waiting to
be picked up from school.

Cleaning and Maintaining Health Facilities: In addition to the typical cleaning supplies provided for the custodial staff, the
district will purchase cleaning and disinfecting supplies for each classroom, athletic facility, and bus so desks, door knobs,
tables, and other frequently touched surfaces can be cleaned more frequently. Cleaning equipment such as additional
sprayers, a floor scrubber, and a carpet scrubber will be purchased so that surfaces will be cleaned and disinfected more
efficiently and effectively. Gloves will be provided to custodial staff, nurses, educational aides, cafeteria staff, and
athletics/physical education staff. Gloves will be required when cleaning and disinfecting the area around a person who is
sick, cleaning other surfaces that may be frequently touched, and when having contact with blood, stool, or body fluids. Gloves
will also be worn by the cafeteria staff when serving food. The district will make facility upgrades to provide a more sanitary
and hygienic environment. The district will upgrade manual toilets and faucets to allow for hands-free operation. Manual paper
towel dispensers will be replaced with hands-free, automatic hand dryers. The district will replace traditional water fountains
with bottle filling stations so students and staff will have safe access to clean drinking water. Needle Point Ionization will be
installed at all academic facilities to provide cleaner air. The main HVAC system for the academic complex will be upgraded
and include the installation of 11.0 Metasys Software, replacement of two NAE5510-2 Engines with new SNE2200 Metsys
Engines, replacement of one NAE5510-3 Engine with a new SNE2200 Metasys Engine, update of the current User Interface

Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan
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with GGT Graphics to the new MUI interface with Metasys graphics and floor plans, new CGM, CVM field controllers and
expansions modules, and 40 hours of onsite Metasys training for staff. These upgrades will ensure optimal functioning of the
HVAC system for years to come. The district will use ARP ESSER funds to employ an additional maintenance supervisor to
ensure that the school facilities remain clean and in working order. The maintenance supervisor will assist in promoting the
safety, health, and comfort of students and employees in school buildings and grounds. He/She will perform preventive
maintenance, repair, and installation in connection with: electrical, plumbing, and HVAC systems; exterior and interior of
buildings; and school grounds.

Contact tracing in combination with isolation and quarantine: The district employs two school nurses who remain in constant
communication with the Jefferson County Health Department. If there is a suspected COVID case at school, the person with
symptoms will immediately be isolated from others. The person will be referred for testing.. When there is a confirmed COVID
case, the school nurses will conduct contact tracing, notify close contacts who are required to quarantine, and report the case
and quarantine list to the Jefferson County Health Department. Isolated or quarantined people will not be permitted to return
until they are released by the Jefferson County Health Department of their health care provider.

Screening testing: Students and staff suspected of having COVID will have the choice to use a take-home COVID test kit
provided by the school district or go to the School Based Health Center or a provider of their choice to be tested.

Vaccinations: The Toronto School Based Health Center will continue to provide the COVID vaccine to students and staff. The
vaccinations will be scheduled on Fridays to allow the recipient to recover from any side effects.

Appropriate Accommodations: The school district will collaborate with parents to ensure the health and safety concerns of
students’ with disabilities are appropriately addressed. The district can offer smaller cohort sizes, increased social distancing
in the classroom environment and alternate delivery methods to minimize risk of contracting COVID.

Addressing the Academic Impact of Lost Instructional Time-
                 Continuity of Services
How will the LEA use the funds it reserves under section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act to address the academic impact of lost
instructional time through the implementation of evidence-based interventions, such as summer learning or summer
enrichment, extended day, comprehensive afterschool programs, or extended school year?
The district has a culture of collaborative leadership and uses a framework which includes teacher-based teams, building
leadership teams, and a district leadership team. The teacher-based teams are organized by grade level and/or department
and meet on a weekly basis. Their main purpose is to facilitate data discussions and instructional planning to positively impact
the students. During their meetings, teachers establish clear learning objectives; Identify how they'll know when each student
has learned the skills being taught; and determine how they'll respond when a student experiences difficulty or has already
mastered the material to be taught. Building leadership teams (BLT’s) and the District Leadership Team (DLT) include
representatives from all grade spans PK-12, special education, career tech, and technology and meet on a quarterly basis.
The BLT’s establish the vision, mission, and goals for the school to increase student achievement. The DLT supports
instruction through district-wide goal setting, professional development and monitoring of progress.

The district took proactive steps to prepare for the 2020-2021 school year to prevent academic gaps. These strategies will
remain in place for the upcoming school years:
    Administration and staff worked through the summer of 2020 to meet required health and safety standards so school
        could open on time with in-person learning starting August 19, 2020.
    The district calendar and school day were designed to exceed the minimum required hours of instruction at all levels
        providing opportunities for intervention and small group instruction during the regular school day.
    The school buildings remained open during the spring COVID shutdown and summer break so school-based
        counseling services could be provided to students and their families.

Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan
                                                      ARP ~ESSER

The district had approximately 12% of its student population remain on virtual learning for the 2020-2021 school year.
According to parent surveys of the virtual learning students, only seven students are expected to remain on virtual learning for
the 2021-2022 school year. The district is most concerned about the virtual students transitioning back to in-person learning.
The ARP ESSER funds will be used to hire four additional teachers, provide increased school psychological services, and
cover the staffing costs for extended learning opportunities such as after-school tutoring, Summer School, STEM Academy,
and credit recovery. The following strategies will be implemented to address the academic impact of lost instructional time.

After School Tutoring: After School Tutoring will be delivered either One-on-One or in a Small-Group setting. Teachers will
work with students on a particular reading, writing, or math skill. The sessions will focus on building students' strengths, and
helping them improve their skills in areas that challenge them. The content will be tied to the grade-level curriculum allowing
students to practice and reinforce what they are learning in the classroom.

In-school intervention Period: Students in grades 6-8 will be provided with a daily in-school intervention period called Core.
During Core class, students will received one-on-one and small group instruction in Core subjects (Reading, Math, English,
Science, and Social Studies). Students will be identified for remediation based on their classroom performance and iReady
diagnostic results.

Summer School: This traditional in-person summer school program will provide students in grades 6-12 with the opportunity
to recover failed credits and get back on track. The courses will be taught by the Toronto Jr.-Sr. High School faculty and offered
in June. Course offerings will be determined by student need and may include classes in math, reading, English, science, and
social studies.

Credit Recovery: Credit deficient high school students will be permitted to participate in a credit recovery program using the
virtual learning academy curriculum. The program is designed for students who did not pass a course the first time. Students
may participate in the online classes during the summer or during the school year. The program is designed to give students
the opportunity to catch up and graduate on time.

STEM Academy: STEM Academy is a week-long summer enrichment program open to all students in grades 4-7. The
program develops science, technology, engineering, and math skills through hands-on, project-based authentic learning
experiences.

School Psychologist Services: A school psychologist will now be employed in the district four days per week in anticipation
of increased need for psychological and academic assessments due to the impact of the pandemic. The school psychologist
will also provide direct support and interventions to students; and consult with teachers and families, and other mental health
professionals to improve student support strategies. School administrators will collaborate with the school psychologist to
improve school-wide practices and collaborate with outside providers to coordinate needed services.

Heggerty Phonics: Heggerty Phonics provides 35-weeks of daily lessons. The curriculum teaches early, basic, and advanced
skills such as: rhyming and onset fluency, isolating final or medial sounds, blending and segmenting sounds, adding and
deleting phonemes, and substituting phonemes. This curriculum will be used with all students in grades K-2 and will be
incorporated into the two-hour literacy block. It will also be used with individual students or small groups in higher grades for
remedial work on specific skills.

Fundations: Wilson Language’s Fundations program is a daily 30-minute program used with students in grades K-3 to provide
critical foundational skills, emphasizing: Phonemic awareness, Phonics/ word study, High frequency word study, Reading
fluency, Vocabulary, Comprehension strategies, Handwriting, and Spelling. This program will be used as a Tier 2 intervention
and be provided daily during the school’s two-hour literacy block.

Wilson Reading: Wilson Reading System will be used as an intensive Tier 3 reading intervention program for students in
grades 2-12 who are not making sufficient progress. Students will receive instruction in word structure, word recognition,
spelling, high frequency words, vocabulary, word-learning skills, listening comprehension, reading comprehension,
proofreading skills, narrative/informational text structures, and organization of information for oral and written expression.

iReady Reading and Math: iReady Reading and Math Diagnostic and Learning programs will be used to provide remediation

Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan
                                                       ARP ~ESSER

and enrichment to students in grades K-8 in the areas of Reading and Math. Students will be assessed using the iReady
Diagnostics five times per year (beginning of school, end of each quarter) to monitor progress. Students will participate in
iReady Learning’s personalized lessons and learning games to strengthen their reading and math skills.

            Addressing Learning Loss-Continuity of Services
Describe the LEA's plan for addressing learning loss by: administering and using high-quality assessments to assess students'
academic progress and meet students' academic needs, including through differentiating instruction; implementing evidence-
based activities to meet the comprehensive needs of students; providing information and assistance to parents and families
on how they can effectively support students, including in a distance learning environment; and/or tracking student attendance
and improving student engagement in distance education.
A system of universal screening and progress monitoring tools are well-established and consistently used throughout the
district. In addition, a district-wide schedule is in place designating the window for baseline and progress monitoring
assessments to be administered. Results are reported at quarterly district leadership team meetings. Instructional needs will
be determined through students’ performance on local assessment tools such as KRA, iReady Reading, iReady Math,
common quarterly assessments, and assessment tools provided through MyView Literacy and Big Ideas Math. The iReady
Diagnostics are adaptive assessments designed to provide teachers with insight into student needs. They give a complete
picture of student performance and growth. The diagnostics pinpoint students’ ability levels and identify the specific skills
students need to learn to accelerate their growth. Each student is then assigned to a personalized learning path which includes
online lessons and learning games that strengthen students’ understanding of mathematical and reading concepts. The
personalized learning path can be used for intervention or enrichment depending on the students’ performance.

The Toronto City School District has adopted Marzano’s New Art and Science of Teaching as its instructional framework. In
order to create a guaranteed and viable curriculum, faculty and administration have aligned instruction to learning standards
by developing critical concept maps for all content areas. Each critical concept map identifies a focused set of learning
standards or critical concepts which have been identified for mastery by the end of the school year. Teachers use proficiency
scales to determine daily lesson goals and show the learning progression. A proficiency scale represents a progression of
learning goals with three levels of difficulty: (1) the target (level 3.0) content; (2) the simpler (level 2.0) content; and (3) the
more complex (level 4.0) content. Teachers use the scales to plan what students will need to know and be tested on throughout
the year. The organization of scales also inform how teachers structure classroom lessons and design assessments for each
unit or topic addressed. Teachers will assess students multiple times using standards-based assessments. Students’ progress
on the standards will be monitored by recording their assessment scores on a standards checklist. Teachers will use this data
to make instructional decisions.

Parents will be encouraged to become actively engaged in school events, activities, and school decision making through a
variety of communication tools. News and information will be published on the school website, social media accounts, and in
the local newspaper throughout the school year. Parents will be invited to attend and assist with school events and activities
such as parenting education seminars, and parent-teacher organization meetings, and career fairs. Parents will be provided
formal ways to provide input regarding optimal functioning of our schools. Teachers will maintain communication logs of parent
contacts.

Parents will be given several options for participating in parent-teacher conferences and IEP meetings such as in-person
meeting, phone conference, or GoogleMeet. Parents will also be provided with the SchoolShelf resource library through the
district website. This resource provides digital access to booklets and information guides for students, parents, and educators.
It delivers more than seventy resources on topics such as academic success, student development, college/career, and parent
involvement. In addition, the district will use its YouTube channel to offer parent informational segments.

Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan
                                                      ARP ~ESSER

     Respond to the academic, social, emotional, and mental
       health needs of all students- Continuity of Services
How will the LEA ensure that the interventions it implements, including but not limited to the interventions implemented under
section 2001(e)(1) of the ARP Act to address the academic impact of lost instructional time, will respond to the academic,
social, emotional, and mental health needs of all students, and particularly those students disproportionately impacted by the
COVID-19 pandemic, including students from low-income families, students of color, English learners, children with
disabilities, students experiencing homelessness, children in foster care, and migratory students.
The Toronto City School District will now employ a school psychologist in the district four days per week in anticipation of
increased need for psychological and academic assessments due to the impact of the pandemic. The school psychologist will
also provide direct support and interventions to students; and consult with teachers and families, and other mental health
professionals to improve student support strategies. School administrators will collaborate with the school psychologist to
improve school-wide practices and collaborate with outside providers to coordinate needed services.

In addition, the district will be partnering with CHANGE, Inc., the Jefferson County Health Department, the Jefferson County
Educational Service Center, Helping Hands of Toronto, Community Resource Center of East Liverpool, The Toronto Coalition
for Revitalization, Nationwide Children’s Hospital, and Toronto Emergency Services to support the needs of our students.

CHANGE, Inc. Community Action Agency was formed in 1983. It is a full-circle agency, addressing many of the needs of the
economically disadvantaged in Jefferson County, Ohio. C.H.A.N.G.E., Inc. operates the School Based Health Center in the
Toronto City Schools. In exchange for office space, C.H.A.N.G.E., Inc. runs a fully functioning health clinic with a full-time staff
including a medical assistant, a nurse practitioner, and two social workers. The SBHC offers mental health and medical care
to the students, staff, and families of the Toronto City School District. The SBHC has been instrumental in providing the COVID
vaccine and COVID testing during the pandemic. The district also contracts additional services from C.H.A.N.G.E., Inc.
including an elementary school nurse, elementary social worker, and substitute school nurses. The SBHC will continue to
provide COVID testing and vaccinations to students and staff

The Jefferson County Health Department has provided guidance and direction throughout the pandemic. The district will
continue to partner with the health department in managing suspected and diagnosed cases of COVID. The district will direct
students or staff with COVID symptoms to either use a COVID home testing kit provided by the district or visit a local healthcare
provider to be tested for COVID. The student or staff member with symptoms will immediately be isolated from other people
and sent home to isolate until they are cleared to return to school. The school nurses will conduct contact tracing for all school
Covid cases and notify close contacts who are required to quarantine. The quarantine list including the positive case and close
contacts will be reported to the health department.

Jefferson County Educational Service Center (JCESC) is one of 88 county school districts established by the Ohio General
Assembly. The Toronto City School District relies on the JCESC for a variety of services. The JCESC provides the Virtual
Learning Academy which is the online curriculum used by the district for credit recovery and home instruction. The district also
contracts a school psychologist and speech therapist from the JCESC.

Helping Hands of Toronto is a non-profit corporation that provides food and other essential goods and services to those in
need in the City of Toronto and the surrounding area. The district will partner with the Helping Hands of Toronto to provide
food to socio-economically disadvantaged families in Toronto. Helping Hands provides “Blessing Bags” to Toronto students
which contain breakfast and lunch for all of the days of the Christmas break.

The district partners with the Community Resource Center of East Liverpool to provide a summer feeding program for the
students of Toronto. Children can go to locations throughout the city to receive lunch Monday-Friday during the summer break.

The Toronto Coalition for Revitalization is a non-profit organization committed to the survival and renewal of the Toronto
community. The Coalition provides funds to the district to support students’ needs. The funding is used to provide emergency
assistance to Toronto students and their families such as rent assistance, utility payments, clothing, and school supplies.

Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan
                                                      ARP ~ESSER

Nationwide Children’s Hospital’s Center for Suicide Prevention and Research provides the Signs of Suicide (S.O.S.) program
to schools in Jefferson County, Ohio free of charge. S.O.S. is an evidence-based suicide prevention program that educates
students about the relationship between suicide and depression, and teaches them how to get help for themselves or a friend.
The Nationwide Children’s staff will provide the Toronto City School District with a mental health professional to conduct
trainings and facilitate the roll out of the S.O.S. program, conduct risk assessments and develop safety plans for at-risk
students; and all S.O.S. curriculum and materials.

Toronto Emergency Services (Police, Fire, and TEMS): The Toronto City School District has partnered with all Toronto
Emergency Service for Handle With Care. Handle with Care" provides the school with a “heads up” when a child has been
identified at the scene of a traumatic event. Emergency personnel are trained to identify children at the scene, find out where
they go to school and send the school a confidential email or text that simply says . . . “Handle Johnny with care”. In addition
to providing notice, emergency personnel build positive relationships with students by interacting on a regular basis. They visit
classrooms, stop by for lunch, and simply chat with students to help promote positive relationships. School staff have been
trained on the impact of trauma on learning, and are incorporating interventions to mitigate the negative impact of trauma for
identified students.

                                                         Timeline
Briefly describe the LEA's proposed timeline for providing services and assistance to students and staff with these funds.

ARP ESSER funds will immediately begin to be use for personal protective equipment, cleaning/disinfecting supplies and
equipment, and facilities upgrades. Beginning August 1, 2021, ARP ESSER funds will be used to cover the cost of an
additional the maintenance supervisor. The district will begin using ARP ESSER funds to cover the cost of extended learning
opportunities and enrichment services beginning June 1, 2022. ARP ESSER funds will be used to cover the cost of additional
school psychologist service and the cost of four additional teachers to provide intensive intervention and instruction to at-risk
students starting August 1, 2022.

                                        Resources and Budget
How will the LEA spend its remaining ARP ESSER funds consistent with section 2001(e)(2) of the ARP Act?

The district will spend its remaining ARP ESSER funds to maintain operation of and continuity of services. The district will use
ARP ESSER funds to cover the cost of background checks for new employees to help them quickly and easily transition to
work in the district. While the USDA is continuing the seamless summer option for the 2021-2022 school year, the district is
setting aside funds for the 2022-2023 and 2023-2024 school years to provide free meals to students if it is not continued for
those school years. If the USDA does continue the program, a budget revision will be submitted.

                                  Needs Assessment-Periodic Review
          Briefly describe how the LEA determined its most important educational needs as a result of COVID-19.

The district leadership team which includes administrators, teachers, classified staff, and parents completed a comprehensive
needs assessment to determine the most important education needs as a result of COVID-19. The needs assessment
included an evaluation of community/family engagement; curriculum, instruction, and assessment; leadership, administrative,

Safe Return to In-Person Instruction and Continuity of Services Plan
                                                      ARP ~ESSER

and governance; professional capital; and school climate and supports. The Toronto City School District identified which
students have been most impacted by the pandemic by monitoring academic performance and attendance. The district
discovered that students who remained on virtual learning the longest had the most significant learning gaps. These students
also experienced a period of adjustment academically, socially, and emotionally as they transitioned back to the traditional in-
person setting. A parent survey was conducted with virtual students to determine the number of students planning to remain
on virtual learning for the 2021-2022 school year. The survey results showed that only seven students district-wide are planning
to stay on virtual learning. This means that at the start of the 2021-2022 school year, the district will have a large number of
students returning to in-person learning for the first time since March 2020. A community survey was made available to all
stake holders in the Toronto City School District. The purpose of the survey was to collect stakeholder input into how the
district should expend federal funds to meet the needs of all students during the COVID-19 pandemic. Sixty-eight percent of
survey respondents were parents, 18.8% were staff members, and 12.5% were community members. The community
stakeholders identified the following as top priorities: supplemental learning activities (87.5%), instructional materials (87.5%),
services to students with disabilities (68.8%), and technology updates and improve infrastructure and connectivity (50%). This
information was used to determine the district’s budget for ARP ESSER grant.

The district leadership team will meet on a quarterly basis to review the Safe Return to Learning and Continuity of Services
Plan. If needed, revision will be completed and submitted.

                                                  Remote Learning
        Briefly describe the extent to which the LEA intends to use ARP ESSER funds to promote remote learning.

The district intends to provide in-person learning. However, with the unpredictability of the COVID virus teachers and students
must be prepared for all instructional delivery methods. The district will purchase Chromebooks so each student in grades
K-12 will continue to have their own device. The one-to-one device initiative is essential for students to have access to live
classroom instruction in the event they are quarantined and have to work from home. Accessories such as headsets and
calculators will be purchased for each student as well. Again, this is to ensure students will have access to required tools if
they are forced to work from home due to a COVID outbreak.

In the age of COVID, it is essential that educators are equipped to deliver live instruction and perform other job duties from
a remote location. The school district will purchase laptops with cameras and microphones to enable teachers to work from
home. The new equipment will make it possible for teachers to deliver the same quality of instruction regardless of the setting.
Software licenses will be purchased to give teachers and students access to online curriculum resources to enhance their
lessons.